Beef Calzone Recipes

Steps:

• Set a pizza stone or baking sheet on an oven rack in the bottom-third position and preheat to 425 degrees F.
• Heat 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Break the beef into large chunks with a wooden spoon. When the beef is browned all over, about 2 minutes, add the mushrooms, 2/3 of the garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook for 3 minutes, then fold in the spinach to wilt, about 1 minute. This mixture should be relatively dry. Remove to a large bowl to cool completely.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil and garlic and another pinch of crushed red pepper to the skillet. Stir for a minute to lightly brown the garlic, then add the tomatoes and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer until thick, about 6 minutes. Reheat this sauce when ready to serve with the calzones.
• Divide the pizza dough into 4 balls. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. On a well-floured surface, roll out each rested ball into a 6- or 7-inch circle 1/8 inch thick. On the bottom half of each circle, mound a quarter of the cooled beef mixture, top with 3 tablespoons of the mozzarella, fold over the top half of the dough to form a semicircle and pinch the edges to seal. Carefully transfer the calzones with a spatula to the prepared baking sheet. Lightly brush with the beaten egg. Cut 2 small slits on top of each to vent steam.
• Bake the calzones in the oven on the hot pizza stone or baking sheet until golden brown, about 22 minutes. Serve with the heated tomato sauce on the side.
• Stir together the warm water, honey and yeast in a measuring cup or small bowl. Let sit until a small layer of foam develops at the top, 3 to 5 minutes. (If this doesn't happen, discard and try again with new yeast.)
• Whisk the flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt together in a medium bowl. Add the foamy yeast mixture and olive oil and mix together with a stiff rubber spatula. Form the dough into a uniform ball in the center of the bowl. Be sure to scrape and use any dough stuck to the sides. The dough will be very sticky at this stage. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and keep in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Lightly dust a baking sheet with flour. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on a clean, dry work surface. Scrape the dough onto the floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes, working in just enough flour to make the dough less sticky but still moist to the touch. Form the dough into 1, 2 or 4 balls, for large, medium and small pizzas. Place the dough ball(s) on the prepared baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a dish towel and let rest for 30 minutes. The dough can then be shaped and cooked as desired or wrapped well and frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw frozen dough at room temperature, shape and cook as desired.

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion, green pepper and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, 5-7 minutes; crumble meat. Drain and set aside. , In a small saucepan, bring tomato sauce and Italian seasoning to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir 1/2 cup into the meat mixture; keep remaining sauce warm. , Unroll pizza crust onto a floured surface. Roll into a 12-in. square; cut into quarters. Spread cream cheese over each to within 1/2 in. of edges. Top with meat mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, mushrooms and olives. , Fold dough over filling, forming a triangle; press edges with a fork to seal. Place on a greased baking sheet. , Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with the remaining sauce.

Steps:

• Make the dough: In a medium bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, flour, and salt. Mix with a rubber spatula until well-combined and the dough comes together into a ball.
• Lightly flour a clean surface, then turn the dough out and knead for 1-2 minutes to smooth and encourage gluten development. Shape the dough into a ball.
• Drizzle the olive oil in a clean large bowl. Add the dough ball and turn to coat in the oil. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
• Preheat the oven to 425˚F (220˚C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• While the dough is rising, make the filling: Add the sausage to a medium nonstick pan over medium heat and cook until no longer pink, 5-6 minutes. Add the onion, salt, and pepper and continue to cook until the sausage is browned, about 5 minutes more. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• After the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 4 portions, then roll each into and round about ¼-inch (½ cm) thick.
• Spread ¼ of the sauce over one half of each dough round, leaving a ½-inch (1 cm) border along the edge. Top each one with 2 slices of ham, 5 pepperoni, ¼ of the sausage and onion mixture, and ¼ cup (25 G) of mozzarella cheese.
• Lightly beat the egg with a pinch of salt. Brush the egg wash on the border of the dough, fold the other half over, and press the edges together. Starting from one corner, fold the dough over itself in a twist. Tuck the other corner underneath. Transfer the calzones to the prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with egg wash and score the tops with a knife to allow steam to escape.
• Bake for 15-17 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes.
• Serve the calzones with marinara sauce for dipping, if desired.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Brown meat, onion, peppers and garlic in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Cover to keep warm.
• Mix tomato sauce, steak sauce and Italian seasoning in small saucepan. Bring to boil on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; simmer 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove 1 cup of the tomato sauce mixture; stir into the meat mixture. Set remaining tomato sauce mixture aside.
• Unroll pizza dough; divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece on lightly floured surface to 6-inch square. Spoon 1/3 cup of the meat mixture onto the center of each dough square; top with 1/4 cup of the cheese. Fold over dough to form triangles. Press edges of dough together, then press with tines of fork to seal tightly. Place on lightly greased baking sheets.
• Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with the remaining tomato sauce mixture.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Unroll pizza crust on cookie sheet; gently stretch to form 12-inch circle.
• Layer beef, onions, mushrooms and cheeses on half of crust to within 1 inch of edge. Fold crust over filling; fold edge up and seal with fork. Cut slits in top.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is hot. Cool 5 minutes before cutting into wedges. Serve with mustard.

Steps:

• In skillet over medium heat cook beef, breaking up with spoon for 5 minutes or until no longer pink.
• Drain off any fat.
• Add onion, garlic, green peppers, mushrooms, basil, salt and pepper.
• Cook for 5 minutes or until onion is softened.
• Stir in carrot and tomato sauce and set aside.
• On floured surface roll dough into 4 (8") circles.
• Divide filling over half of each circle and sprinkle with cheese.
• Fold dough over and pinch to seal.
• Sprinkle baking sheet with cornmeal.
• Place calzones on top and dust with flour.
• Bake in centre of 425 oven for 20 minutes or until golden.

Steps:

• Set a pizza stone or baking sheet on an oven rack in the bottom third of the oven, and preheat to 425 degrees F.
• Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, 3/4 teaspoon salt and half the pepper flakes, and cook, breaking the beef up into large chunks with a wooden spoon, until the beef is browned all over, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, 2/3 of the garlic and 3/4 teaspoon salt, and cook for 3 minutes more. Fold in the spinach, and cook until wilted, about 1 minute (the mixture should be relatively dry). Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, and let cool completely.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining oil, garlic and pepper flakes to the skillet, and cook, stirring, to lightly brown the garlic, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and 3/4 teaspoon salt, and simmer the sauce until thick, about 6 minutes; set aside.
• Divide the pizza dough into 12 balls. Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. On a well-floured surface, roll out each ball into a 6- or 7-inch circle 1/8 inch thick. On the bottom half of each circle, mound 1/4 cup of the cooled beef mixture and top with 3 tablespoons of the mozzarella. Fold over the top half of the dough to form a semicircle, and pinch the edges to seal. Carefully transfer the calzones with a spatula to the prepared baking sheets. Lightly brush with the beaten egg. Cut 2 small slits on top of each to vent steam.
• Refrigerate half the calzones. With a spatula, transfer the rest of the calzones to the hot pizza stone or baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 22 minutes. Repeat with the remaining calzones. Reheat the tomato sauce, and serve on the side.
• To freeze: Let the baked calzones cool completely, then wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Place them in freezer bags, and freeze for up to a month. The sauce can be frozen in 12 small freezer bags for up to a month.
• To reheat: Thaw the frozen calzones in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours. Unwrap the calzones, then microwave them on a microwave-safe plate in 1-minute increments, rotating them after each, until heated through, 2 to 4 minutes. To reheat the sauce, microwave it in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until the sauce is hot.

Steps:

• Meat -- If you have left over meat, don't worry. If not, make sure to saute it ahead of time. Just use a little olive oil in a pan to saute on medium heat until done and then set to the side to drain and cool.
• Vegetables -- if you cooked your meat in that pan you may have a little oil left to saute your vegetables, if not -- add a little olive oil to cook your vegetables. Add them and saute 4-5 minutes until soft. Remember they won't cook much in the oven and you want most of the water cooked out of them. They also should be set to the side, drained and cooled. You don't want extra water in the calzone to make it soggy.
• Crust -- Just roll out your pizza dough. Pillsbury comes in a rectangle so roll out as flat as you can make it. Add a little flour to your counter top or cutting board so the dough doesn't stick. I like ro roll out with a rolling pin to get in even and spread out. It should be about 13x9, each can or 14 oz of dough. Then with a 6" bowl right from your kitchen cabinet -- press down on the crust to make as many calzones as possible. This recipe will make right about 8 for both rolls. Any left over crust, just add all together and press down again to maybe get one more calzone.
• Stuffing -- Add some of the cooled meat, then the vegetables and cheese. Now put a little water on your finger and moisten 1/2 the edge of each circle. Then fold the circle over to make a half circle. The water will just make it stick together good. Press together well to seal and then use a fork to press the edges down even more and make a nice decorative edge.
• Bake -- Brush a little olive oil if you want on the calzones to make a crisp crust (optional). Transfer the calzones to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil and bake at 450 for about 15 minutes until golden brown. One batch I made took 20 the other 15 so, just keep an eye of them. Serve with a good Marinara.
• And remember, any mix of fillings, broccoli, ham, cheese; bacon, cheddar and onion; or chicken, spinach and mozzarella. Just think what is left in your fridge. Six dollars for pizza dough and marinara and you can make a great use of leftovers and with some soup in your freezer, you have a whole new dinner.